Ecopedagogy for inclusion: pedagogical foundations from Arne Næss’s ecosophy

Abstract

The current ecological emergency requires a deep pedagogical reflection. This theoretical essay aims to explore the educational implications of a crisis that is first and foremost ontological and systemic. Arne Næss’s ecosophy is considered a point of reference as it marks the transition from deep ecology to deep education, i.e. an education in relationships that expand the ego towards an ecological self through processes of identification and self-realisation. In dialogue with the systemic perspective of ecoliteracy and ecodesign (Capra, 2013) and with the distinction between philosophical ecopedagogy and critical ecopedagogy (Hung, 2023), we propose the construct of ecopedagogy for inclusion: a pedagogy that takes the ecosystemic model as a reference for designing inclusive contexts. Contributions from special pedagogy are analysed to provide an operational framework for inclusive educational design (UDL, authentic tasks, ecopedagogical frames), understood as a force that tends towards unity in diversity.